At the End of a Long and Winding Road
by thumos
Summary: Zuko always thought that his mother would always be there for him, protecting him, no matter what.


Zuko never really thought about what it would be like to finally reunite with his mother; he was always afraid to hope for a happy reunion, because, knowing his luck, he'd probably find her lying dead in a ditch somewhere – which is why he's so confused at the fact that now that he's finally found his mother again, alive and well, all he feels is rage.

Ursa is almost exactly as he remembers her, but at the same time, so different, he can barely recognize her. She's aged well, and aside from some more prominent wrinkles, she still looks relatively youthful. Naturally, when she sees his scar for the first time, she panics and she fusses over him, demanding to know when and how and from whom he received such a scar. Zuko looks to Azula, who's standing behind him with an unreadable expression on her face, almost helplessly, and he can't help but feel sorry for his sister, because their mother has yet to even acknowledge her presence.

And that's when the anger settles in. Knowing he'll probably regret it later, he violently shoves his mother away, blinking back the tears that are forming too rapidly in his eyes. His hands ball into fists, and his entire body trembles. "Three years…" he says in a shaky whisper.

Ursa looks confused and hurt, but Zuko feels no sympathy. "Wh-What?" she stammers. "Zuko, what are you—"

"Three years!" he yells. "I was in exile for three years! And don't you _dare_ say you couldn't meet me, because you were in exile too!" He loses the battle against his tears, but he doesn't care about how pathetic he probably looks now that he's sobbing hysterically. "All this time… I thought you were _dead_… And you still could have…"

Azula is conspicuously silent, and for the first time, Zuko realizes just how _unfair_ everything was for her. Yes, she had his father's approval, but did that really count for anything in the end? Uncle had abandoned her, and even her own mother… "What about Azula?" he yells, pointing at his sister behind him.

"Zuko, stop," Azula says sharply, though Zuko can still hear the slight tremor in her voice.

"No!" he yells. "Forget me. Azula needed you! She needed someone there with her, to show her the right way, but she was all alone! Everyone's telling me about how I'm Avatar Roku's great grandson too and how I have the potential for both good and evil, but _so does Azula_! How is _she_ any different?"

"Zuko, you're going off on an irrelevant tangent!" Azula snaps. She bows demurely before her mother. "I'm sorry for his behavior, Mother."

"Don't apologize for me! I meant every word I said!" Zuko turns to face Ursa, who now appropriately wears a forlorn expression. "You know… all this time, I considered the time we spent together some of the best in my life… but what did I know? In the end, you weren't there for me when it counted, and you abandoned Azula long before that too."

"Zuko, I'm so sorry…" Ursa whispers, tears streaming down her face. She makes a move to put her arms around Zuko, but he jerks away.

Zuko dries his tears and turns his back to his mother, resisting the urge to run away. No, he has to walk slowly and purposefully – his mother needs to know what it's like to be walked out on by her own kin, something of which Zuko and Azula are both painfully aware. "Come, Azula," he says quietly, his voice steady for once. "We're leaving. Uncle's already worried that we've been gone for this long." And, thankfully, Azula follows him without a word. Zuko already had one parent walk out on him; what difference does another make? For the first time, he realizes that, regardless of what anyone else says, she agreed to marry someone as vicious and cruel as Ozai, and she stuck with him, even during his pathetic power grab – and that really says something about her character.

But Zuko still has Uncle, and that's probably all he'll ever need. Now that he knows just how horrible it was for Azula, he has to be there for her too, and hopefully he'll be able to convince Uncle to come around to her too. But first things first – he needs to put the past behind him, and move on.

* * *

_Just something that's always bugged me about Ursa. Pretty self-explanatory. Please review!_


End file.
